A Liberian man reads a newspaper reporting on the Ebola outbreak in neighbouring Guinea on Feb. 16, 2021. (Photo: EPA-Yonhap News)
The West African nation of Guinea will launch an Ebola vaccination drive Tuesday.
An outbreak of the Ebola virus was declared there earlier this month -- the first in the region since an epidemic from 2013 to 2016 left more than 11,300 people dead, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The vaccination program was originally scheduled to start Monday, but was delayed due to a Saharan dust storm that interrupted the planned shipment of the Merck jabs.
Health authorities said some of the doses would head straight to Nzerekore, the capital of country's southeastern forest region where five people have recently died of the disease.
Cases of infection have also been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ebola causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.
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